Fallout 76 is getting plenty of attention in the wake of the hugely popular Amazon show, and we’re happy to see it. Also, we reflect on Final Fantasy 16‘s DLC now that Clive’s journey is truly at an end, and recommend a fresh new Zelda-like that’s also a twin-stick shooter. Enjoy!
Fallout is bigger than ever right now, thanks in large part to the recent live-action Amazon show. The show’s success has led to millions of players hopping into past Fallout games. And yes, that includes the franchise’s oddball MMO, Fallout 76. Thanks to the show and 76’s inclusion in Game Pass, a lot of people are giving this online-only spin-off a shot and finding that, hey, it’s not as bad as they thought. – Zack Zwiezen Read More
Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison, along with her robotic arm and famous three-barrel revolver, is back in Phantom Fury, a new FPS boomer shooter adventure set after the events of 2021’s Ion Fury and its expansion. – Zack Zwiezen Read More
I finally caved. After years of being petitioned by my friends and spurred on by the new TV show, I spent this past weekend largely playing Fallout 76, Bethesda’s survival MMO based on the open-world RPGs. When it first launched in 2018, Fallout 76 couldn’t have had more working against it. Not many seemed to want it to exist in the first place, a special edition of the game overcharged players for a shitty bag, and it was launched unpolished and empty. Its development was a harrowing failure of management, and it seemed like the game’s population had all but given up on Fallout 76 within a few months. However, Bethesda refused to give up on the game, and in 2020, a sort of miracle happened. Fallout 76’s Wastelanders expansion more or less overhauled the game, introduced human NPCs, and brought a new story that breathed some life into its rendition of the post-apocalyptic Appalachias. Slowly but surely, Fallout 76 got better. – Moises Taveras Read More
There is a reason why Minishoot’ Adventure has that apostrophe in its name, but it isn’t a good enough one, so we’ll rightly ignore it from now on. But this certainly isn’t a game you should ignore: despite the awful name, this is the best Zelda-like 2024 has offered so far, and it’s also somehow a bullet-hell twin-stick shooter. – John Walker Read More
Spoilers for Final Fantasy XVI and its expansions follow.
Rarely has a game confused me as much as Final Fantasy XVI. Though I loved most of my time with it, thanks to its pulse-pounding action, heartfelt performances, luscious visuals, and impeccable score, it undoubtedly faltered. Final Fantasy 16 abandoned its most controversial and consequential storyline—centering a poorly handled slave rebellion—and sidelines some of its most intriguing ones, making for a muddled and disappointing story. Much as I adore Clive, Joshua, Jill, Cid, and plenty of other members of its cast, many of them also feel shafted after performing their function in the story, being reduced to little more than means to an end. Final Fantasy 16 is also dour, which isn’t tremendously different from the rest of the series on its face, but it turns this misery into the entirety of its identity, leaving little room for any other emotional expression in the game. – Moises Taveras Read More
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the second part of Square Enix’s massive FF7 remake trilogy, is a game filled with many heroes. Folks like Cloud, Barret, Aerith, that cat thing. But the biggest hero in Rebirth, the person I could always rely on, wasn’t any of the main characters. Instead, it was a simple security guard who helped me win many matches in Queen’s Blood. – Zack Zwiezen Read More
The late Suikoden creator Yoshitaka Murayama got the crew back together for one last job in 2020: a crowdfunding campaign for a spiritual successor to the beloved Japanese RPG series raised $4.5 million, the third most of any gaming Kickstarter ever. Four years later, the team at Rabbit and Bear Studios has delivered Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, a neat-looking, somewhat flawed attempt to recapture the magic of sitting entranced in front of a ‘90s CRT while toiling through turn-based battles, serpentine dungeons, and familiar fantasy arcs. – Ethan Gach Read More
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